Sanskriti Music and Dance Festival – India Currents

India CurrentsThe lilting serenity of peaceful eternal music, the purity of  creative expression in a delectable dance resonates a mystical romance. The connections of the heart rendered through celebrations of blissful music and dance have the magical ability to telepathically communicate with many a heart, easily conquering all man-made barriers.

The everlasting radiance of Indian classical music and dance has shaped numerous minds around the world influencing them to experiment, to idealize and to fall in love over and over. Our future generations need to be exposed to the quintessence of the roots of our rich and varied heritage in order to keep the flame alive in their young hearts. We owe it to our future progenies. In this context, Sanskriti, a Bay Area cultural organization has taken up the cudgels to celebrate music in its supreme divinity, and dance in its celestial harmony, with a two day conference style festival.

The festival brings music aficionados from all walks under a unified aegis through rich performances by eminent luminaries who are stalwarts in their respective fields. There will be lecture demonstrations, documentary films, thought provoking discussions through demonstrations from talented Bay Area artists spread across all ages. The festival will feature performances from maestros like SisirKana Dhar Chaudhury(violin), Swapan Chaudhury (tabla), Chitresh Das (kathak), Tarun Bhattacharya(santoor), Sougata Banerjee (vocal) and Sanchita Bhattacharya (odissi). To accentuate the Indian influences on music from other parts of the world, the “Windows of the World” section will feature performance from Mariah Parker in an Indo-Jazz quintet formation.

Musical Evening group will present “A Journey Though Thumri,”a common genre of semi-classical Indian music. The text of Thumri is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl’s love for Krishna. Local artists will perform various forms Thumri, whic is used as a generic name for some other, even lighter, forms of music such as Dadra, Hori, Kajari, Saavan, Jhoola, and Chaiti.

“Play Like a Lion,” a documentary on the legacy of Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan, will be screened followed by a Q&A session with director, Joshua Dylan Mellars.

Through its music and dance festival, Sanskriti takes a holistic approach to bring the classical and pure music closer to the masses transcending any geographic or language barrier.

Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Amador Valley Theater, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. www.sanskriti.org. Tickets: $100, $70, $50 (for both days).